aussielover

Mindy has been rejected from guide dogs. She was taken into kennels last week and examined by their vet. She has failed to progress due to ongoing skin allergies. They think her skin problems will be ongoing and possibly get worse (this has also been confirmed by the derm specialists i have talked to). Several of her littermates have also been affected by skin problems, so they think the cause is probably something genetic. They don't think it is practical to do a specific allergy test, as even if the allergies are identified, they are likely to be pollens, grasses etc, so not possible to remove her from them. They can't give a dog requiring medications to a client, so Mindy can't be a guide dog anymore. Of course this means I get to keep her! I'm very happy about this but also a little sad she won't be able to be a guide dog and help someone else (though there was no guarantee she would have passed all the training and other health tests). I am looking forward to being able to possibly compete in some dog sports with her though. I also want her to become a delta therapy dog, our obedience teacher thinks she would be good, though I'm not sure if her allergies would exclude her? I suppose the next step will be to take her to see a derm specialist and identify what her allergies are exactly.

so beautiful!

I thought you were getting an 8 week old puppy in june Mas? Lots of training organisations put a lot of faith in the retrieval test as dogs that are willing to go fetch and bring an item to you, are likely to turn out to be good working dogs (in their experience). What colour is he

Many "family pets" that attack people "randomly" are actually just dog that live in the family's backyard at best and are often chained up in the yard. They have little to no interaction with the family at all. The media sensationalises the story as usual, it is more exciting and shocking to think a beloved family pet could so easily turn on you.

No 3 looks reasonably lab like to me. What is the site? I could advertise my labrador on a place like gumtree etc as a GSD or whatever i like, no one is going to stop me. You'd have to be very ignorant to not realise those dogs (apart from no 3) are not purebred labradors.

I've actually seen two Greyhounds kill small dogs The first time, the Grey was not muzzled and ran down a SWF and which sadly, dies later from its injuries. The second time the Grey was muzzled but ended up chasing a small terrier type dog into the water and drowned it. This is not to say all greyhounds are killers, but to say they are all safe is just not true (just like any other dog).

I think in some breeds, the way the breed standard is interpreted, is less than desirable (obviously my opinion only). There is nothing wrong with the standard itself, it is the way it is interpreted which of course is subjective and peoples opinion can vary. The truest way to test whether a dog is bred to standard (imo), is to work it in its original purpose, which is not always possible. This brings us to the "show vs working" debate, which I think the OP doesn't really want to go into... I think it is commendable to title or work your dogs in an activity that they were bred for, or that is closely or somewhat related to what they were bred for. To answer the question, I think you can breed if you don't show, as long as it for a working purpose and you are aware of health problems and have a good knowledge of your breeds history and a reaosnable interpretation of the breed standard.

Could someone please tell me about the different height classes? If I have a dog that is 22 inches at the shoulder, which height will she be jumping? What class do most of the borders and kelpies jump?

Totally depends on the dog! What breed is the dog? I wouldn't necessarily sya a large breed needs more than a small breed. For example, Greyhounds generally don't need much exercise and jack russells need A LOT of exercise!

any trick is easy for a BC! LOL I would also think shake hands or high five would be a very easy trick to teach. If the pup is food motivated you can wave a piece of food in front of his face and he should try to paw your hand eventually. If you're using a clicker or marker word, then mark the action of lifting his paw up. When he is regularly doing this to your hand, start intorducing the command- shake hands,high 5 or whatever. This trick is really simple i've taught it to lots of different breeds and pretty much all have picked it up really quickly (like in 3-5 x 10 min sessions). It is also a good trick to lead into things such as high 10, beg, shy etc Otherwise, rollover is a good one to teach and a lot of fun

I have a 3am barker too! If someone comes home late, Mindy will let you know. I consider it a good thing, I want to know if people are wandering around my house in the middle of the night! slightly, but Cesar Milan's "sound" where he goes shhhh or whatever, actually works! I tried it on my dog when she was being naughty (stole a sock) and she immediately looked at me, ran over and sat in front of me! Perhaps this is the secret to dog training? lol!!!!

Generally only if they have kept in contatc with each other. My puppy met one of her brothers at around 5-6 months of age and he actually tried to attack her. She has seen her other brothers every month but doesn't really seem to play with them or treat them any different to any other labrador. In fact she is more reserved with them as they are really over the top dogs!

You have a clever dog, that probably needs more exercise and mental stimulation. If you only go out for a few hours, leave your dog in the laundary or bathroom with an interactive toy such as a kong, treat ball or bob a lot or even a nice juicy bone. Before you leave her take her for a really really long walk and do some training with her. I would also recommend seeing a dog trainer or behaviourist for a private consultation, but if this is not possible, taking her to your local obedience club would be a good idea, and I am sure the two of you would enjoy it!

Goldren Retriever or Labrador. Specifically asking the breeder for a lower energy/calm puppy. Many Goldies and labs really require more than one walk a day, but there are individuals out there that are lower energy. These breeds are generally very well accepted by the public due to their roles as service dogs, which is useful if he wants to take the dog to work. They need to be well socialised and trained with children to ensure they don't knock them over or are too exhuberant, but any med-large breed dog is capable of accidently knocking a child over. I also agree with the suggestion of a pointer, they may be lower energy dogs than a GR or lab (not sure 100% though). I think a Kelpie would need more than one walk a day as well as other training.

Well, the breath might be due to the ET tube irritating the mouth or back of the throat, or maybe they fed him something different at the vets (like My Dog cans- yuck!) 2 days is quite a long time not to poop especially for a pup. How frequently was he going before? are you sure he hasn't gone while you weren't watching? Sometimes animals can become a bit constipated after anaesthetic depending on the drugs used. But if he has been fed less and is not as active, it might be normal depending on how often he went before. Take him back to the vet if you're concerned though.

When i saw this topic i thought it said yucca extract for Plague prevention lol

15 minutes should be fine, I think the general rule is 5 minutes for every one month of age- so a 4 month old could get up to 20 minutes. This rule applies to forced exercise such as leash walking where the pup can't stop if they want to. Though some puppies never know when to stop and have to be forced to retire or take rests during free play (like my pup). Did your breeder give you an exercise sheet?

1. what does the breath actually smell like? How old is this pup? does the desexing coincide with teething? as this can often result in not so nice breath. 2. what do you mean by not pooping normally? do you mean frequency, location or consistency?

I was thinking about this topic after doing this test: Canine personality test There is a good explanation of drives and what the scores mean at the top and bottom of the page. Obviously extremely subjective and I always lean towards giving a lower score if i am unsure. Dogs that are low in all drives apparently are hard to motivate but easy to live with. Not being an experienced trainer i don't know what i would do if my dog wasn't pretty highly motivated by food and toys or pats/attention.

Do you think a truly low drive dog would be able to get obedience titles and perhaps some other dogsport titles? Would they need an exceptional or at least experienced trainer to achieve this? Would they be capable of winning a competition? Do you think any dog is capable of getting obedience titles, provided the trainer is dedicated enough?

Perhaps also post this in puppy problems section. There is a recent thread there with puppy nipping problems too. It is unlikely a puppy would "grow out" of nipping, it is something we as humans must teach them is unacceptable. To summarize i think there are a few options: 1. yelp in a high pitched voice when the puppy nips and stop any interaction with it. when it calms down, redirect it to a toy 2. yelp, then calmly put the puppy in a time out area or walk away from the puppy and don't interact with it. 3. scruff the puppy gently when they nip you and give a verbal correction such as uh-uh or bah 4. press your fingers into the puppy's palate when it bites you (this will require further instruction from someone who actually uses this method before you should attempt this- i think nekhbet and maybe readysetgo???) 5. use a water spray bottle on the puppy when it bites you, ideally not letting the puppy see you directly with the spray bottle so they think "where did that come from" and don't associate you with it. * not all of these are actually my opinions or suggestions, i am just saying what has worked for other people. Personally I found no2 to be most effective with my labrador puppy. the most effective method will depend on the personality of the pup. If the problem is overwhelming or serious, it would be best to contact a trainer experienced in this problem to come out and give you some tips. Additionally, it is very important to provide the puppy with adequate physical and mental stimulation to keep them from being bored. Basic training and simple tricks are a great way to mentally tire a puppy.

Doesn't feel slow when doing it on a treadmill!!! No way I could run it And if we have to bike on grass, I'm starting to think I may not even be capable of that but there is a 20 min break in between, so you do 8km, then a break, then 6km, rest then 6km as far as i understand it? that doesn't sound too bad- certainly better than 20 continuous kms!

how fussy are they? would using fruit or veges work? i use apple, carrot and more recently (on advice from mason2009), pear. i find these are not as messy as meaty stuff, but i have a food-guzzling lab, whose food doesn't remain in her mouth long enough for any tasting to occur i use liver treats (vets best brand) for higher value treats, i'm not sure if that would fit into the raw diet though? i also use left over meat like chicken, roast etc when it is available, but i find it a bit icky to hold in my hand lol

Actually, antihistamines are not as effective in dogs as they are in humans. It is often necessary to trial different antihistamines for a period of one month each until you find one that actually works for dogs. Iramine, an antihistamine registered for canine use, is effective in less than 50% of dogs. My pup did not respond to iramine, claratyne, polaramine or phenergan and has only had a marginal improvement on Zyrtec. For an extremely itchy dog I would recommend corticosteroids such as prednisolone as well as skin scrapes and a derm consult. If you are worried about food allergy, you will have to do a food trial, which involves feeding a novel carb and protein such as roo meat and potato ONLY. There are commercial formulations such as hills z/d and royal canin sensitvity control that can also be used in food trials. There is really no point in messing around with diet if you suspect food allergy as it can just be harder to develop a diet for the food trial later on (which I learnt the hard way). Another thing to keep in mind is that allergies this summer have been really bad for many dogs

Edit: double post Also, yelping may excite some puppies. Instead of yelping, you could try saying uh-uh or BAH or something similar. Or you can just cease interacting with the puppy when they bite too hard